Be My Baby: The Sugar Club continue their themed evenings with ‘Be My Baby’, a night celebrating the wonderful music of Phil Spector who dominated the music scene in the 1960s and 1970s. He produced songs such as ‘River Deep, Mountain High, Be my Baby and Twist and Shout’. The evening will tell his story as well as feature his songs played by the wonderful 10 piece band the Spectres. Tickets €17 ,on 21st October.
An Evening with Ruth Fitzmaurice: Ruth Fitzmaurice has become a presence in the Irish media with the publication of her memoir ‘I found my Tribe’ . Ruth is a novelist who tells her story of raising five children under ten, while coping with her husband Simon’s diagnosis of Motor Neuron disease. A key feature of Ruth’s story is the part swimming now plays in her life, the fact that a swim in the Irish Sea every morning makes it feel like she can tackle the hurdles of the day. Ruth Fitzmaurice is an enduring and honest speaker, and is an icon of those who get up every morning despite a challenging life. TICKETS €10-€12 at the Pavilion theatre 17th October
Hooray for Hollywood
Wednesday 18th October , the RTE concert orchestra will be performing in the National concert Hall with MGM music coordinator and conductor Richard Kaufman. The evening will feature a special tribute to Henry Mancini,composer of music such as ‘Moon River’ ‘The Pink Panther ‘ and ‘Love Theme’ from Romeo and Juliet . The concert orchestra will also play favourites from films such as Mary Poppins and Cinema Paradiso.
Le Corsaire : The lighthouse Cinema are continuing their live feeds of ballets and operas, perfect for the student budget at €12 a ticket. This month the Bolshoi Ballet are performing Le Corsaire, based on the poem written by Lord Byron about a Pirate who falls in love with Medora. This is the perfect opportunity for ballet lovers to see one of the best ballet companies in the world perform one of the most exciting, dazzling ballets.Showing on 22nd October.
Whitby: A dance piece that forms part of the Bram Stoker Festival, dancer Colin Dunne and theatre maker Joan Sheehy have created a dance piece which follows Dracula’s journey from Romania to the English coastal town of Whitby. Dancers Patrick Ryan and Martha Dulea will also perform. The perfect show to get into the halloween mood, you can see it at the Smock Alley Theatre, showing from 15th-20th October. Tickets €13-€15.
#iamirish
The question of identity is something most individuals struggle with. It is something that is difficult enough to establish within yourself, but it is another thing to portray how you identify to others who are fuelled with bias , assumptions, close mindedness and ultimately the only things they have been brought up to know.
Black history month is back again, which occurs in October, and with it comes Lorraine Maher’s exhibition #iamirish. It saw huge success in the London Irish centre last year, and is in Dublin this year on 25th October in the Axis, Ballymun. Maher, the woman behind the creation of this exhibition , wished to join together different experiences and perspectives of what it means to be irish and how mixed race and black irish are viewed. Lorraine has collaborated with photographer Tracey Anderson who also has Irish heritage, to carefully document the life, experiences and heritage of 22 Irish people of a mixed race background.
One of the most interesting objectives of this project is to eliminate the idea that a non white individual in Ireland is an immigrant Maher had been brought up in Ireland and was fully immersed in the Irish lifestyle. She ultimately identifies as Irish, yet is still aware of her mixed heritage.
There is certainly an ignorance to the fact that there were mixed race children in Ireland throughout the 20th century, and this exhibition will be a welcome eye opener to many, as it documents individuals from the ages of 1 to 72. The exhibition poses the question of how many mixed race people identify themselves. Is it predominantly down to heritage? The country they grew up in ? or purely the culture and influences that were predominant in their lives?For Maher, although she was aware that she was different to the majority of children in the country, she never questioned her identity as an Irish woman.
Holly Lloyd – Arts & Events Editor
